Johnson’s Art a Familiar Sight in Princeton Area

For area residents the sculptures of Seward Johnson are a familiar presence — after all they can be found in many communities around the region.

In many ways the works are an extension of Grounds For Sculpture’s “Seward Johnson: The Retrospective,” on view through Sunday, September 21.

While one can get a list of what is being shown at the park, the following serves as a quick self-guide to Johnson’s public sculptures, which serve as a taste of what awaits a visitor to the retrospective.

Ewing: “Life at a Proper Distance” and “No Mommy, That One” (New Jersey Library for the Blind, 2300 Stuyvesant Avenue).

And on the Hamilton roadways leading from Route 295 to Grounds For Sculpture — called Art Along the Way — the following works are on view: the trio of 20-foot-tall figures based on a series of dance paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir:”A Turn of the Century,” “Time For Fun,” and “Whispering Close” (Sloan Avenue at Hamilton Train Station); the trio of 20-foot-tall musicians, “Los Mariachis” (Sloan Avenue at Hamilton Train Station); “Tooth” and “Comprehension” (Sloan Avenue and across from station); the 25-foot sculpture based on Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” painting: “God Bless America” (Sloan Avenue and Klockner Road); “It’s So Tall!” (the companion piece to “God Bless America”); “First Ride” (Klockner Road at East State Street); “Mr. Rat” (on Sculptor’s Way across from the entrance to Rat’s Restaurant).

Other works — including “Spring” in front of the East Brunswick Library and “Magic Fountain” at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick — can be seen in towns from Hackensack to Atlantic City, making the current Johnson retrospective a regional and statewide celebration of the familiar.